TED Blog » Don Levyhttp://blog.ted.com
The TED Blog shares interesting news about TED, TED Talks video, the TED Prize and more.Tue, 31 Mar 2015 22:04:37 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/http://1.gravatar.com/blavatar/909a50edb567d0e7b04dd0bcb5f58306?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.png » Don Levyhttp://blog.ted.com
TED speakers who’ve won Oscarshttp://blog.ted.com/ted-speakers-whove-won-oscars/
http://blog.ted.com/ted-speakers-whove-won-oscars/#commentsSun, 24 Feb 2013 21:00:33 +0000http://blog.ted.com/?p=69976[…]]]>Think quick: what was the best film of 2012? Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook or Zero Dark Thirty? This question will be decided tonight at the 85th annual Academy Awards. As you prepare your Oscars ballot and debate whether Seth MacFarlane will make a great host (is it just coincidence that he made a movie called Ted this year?), here is a celebration of TED speakers who have won Oscars.

Producer Jake Eberts — known for taking on bold projects like Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, Dances with Wolves and March of the Penguins — has been involved with the making of movies that garnered 66 Oscar nominations, including nine Best Picture nominees. Eberts sadly passed away in 2012, but before his death, often showed film clips at TED — generally unposted because the footage was embargoed. Here, a recap of his talk from TED2009.

Composer James Horner won two Oscars for his work in Titanic, including Best Original Song for “My Heart Will Go On.” Horner desconstructed a scene from the epic film at TED2005.

Jeffrey Katzenberg, founder and CEO of DreamWorks Animation, spoke several times at TED in the early days. His company made Beauty and the Beast, the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture, and won Best Animated Feature Film in 2001 for Shrek.

Producer Lawrence Bender, whose films have gotten 29 Academy Award nominations in total, has also spoken briefly at a TED.

Ben Affleck, who created a playlist of his favorite TED Talks, directed and starred in Argo — nominated for seven awards this year, including Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay.

Longtime TED community member Philipp Engelhorn got a Best Picture nod this year for Beasts of the Southern Wild, which he executive produced.

“Movies have proved to be the ultimate medium for magic,” says Don Levy in today’s talk.

A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and former senior vice president of marketing and communications at Sony Pictures, Levy has always been fascinated by the sleights of hand that filmmakers use to create illusions. And he knows he is far from alone. In the 117 years since the Lumière Brothers terrified audiences with their Train Pulling Into a Station (1896), Levy explores how visual effects have evolved.

“With complete control of everything the audience can see, movie makers have created an arsenal of techniques to further their deceptions,” says Levy. “Playing with the world and our perception of it really is the essence of visual effects.”

But Levy knows that words cannot capture the goosebump-raising experience of seeing something wonderful on a big screen. So, with the help of the Academy, he created an exclusive video for TED showing the evolution of effects. This thrilling montage pairs similar clips from different points in the history of film — George Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon (1902) compared to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968’s Academy Award winner for Visual Effects) and Avatar (Visual Effects Oscar winner in 2009), and the crowd scenes of Ben Hur (1925) contrasted with those in Gladiator (which won the 2000 Oscar for Visual Effects).

Watch Levy’s talk, which is a feast for the eyes and imagination. Here, see nine more talks about movie magic.

Ed Ulbrich: How Benjamin Button got his face
Ed Ulbrich: How Benjamin Button got his faceMost movies that portray the same character at wildly different ages opt to use different actors for the roles. But not The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Digital effects master Ed Ulbrich, from Digital Domain, shares how his team dramatically aged Brad Pitt 45 years for the film. While their initial reaction upon the greenlighting of the film was panic, they went on to win an Oscar for the work.

Beeban Kidron: The shared wonder of film
Beeban Kidron: The shared wonder of film
Human beings create identities through narratives. In this talk from TEDSalon London Spring 2012, British filmmaker Beeban Kidron — director of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason — shares why she thinks it’s important for children to watch films, both new and old. “Cinema is arguably the 20th century’s most influential art form … [But] we are increasingly offered a diet in which sensation, not story, is king,” says Kidron. “If we could raid the annals of 100 years of film, maybe we could build a narrative that would deliver meaning to the fragmented and restless world of the young.”

J.J. Abrams: The mystery box
JJ Abrams: The mystery box
Writer, director and producer JJ Abrams layers mysteries in his television series Alias and Lost, and in his big-screen reimagining of Star Trek. At TED2007, Abrams credits his imagination to his grandfather, who he calls the “ultimate deconstructor,” always intent on figuring out how things work.